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- (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Shet 1.

A. TANNER.

AMALGAMATOR.

No. 532,114. Patented Jan. 8, 1895;

wim /awe amvawtoz W 1 3%? has em WAJyzwtIafiner UNr-re AUGUST'TANNER, OFBROOKFIELD, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WILLIAM C. HANNUM, OF SAMEPLACE.

'AMALGAMATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 532,114, dated January8, 1895.

Application filed $eptember 12, 1894. Serial No. 522,790. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AUGUST TANNER, of Brookfield, Missouri, haveinvented certain new and .useful Improvements in Amalga- 5 mators, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description,referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof. Myinvention has relation to improvements to in amalgainators and consistsin the novel arrangement and combination of parts more fully set forthin the specification and pointed out in the claims. g p

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side eleva- [5 tion of myimprovedapparatus. Fig. 2 is a plan view. Fig. 3 is a middle longitudinalsection taken on the line 05-00 of Fig. 2; and Fig. dis an enlargedtransverse section on the line y y of Fig. 2.

The object of my invention is to construct a new apparatus designed forthe amalgama tion ofv precious metals in ores containing only small orminute quantities of the former. In the amalgamation of gold in the wet2 5 way, muchof the mercury is carried off by the running water, and alarge proportion too of the precious metal is lost, especially the 1light float metal.

By my present apparatus and the method which it carries out, the oreafter being first thoroughly dried, in a finely divided state is passedin thin layers over the surface of a mercury bath, being advanced overthe surface in a manner that all particles of the ore 3 and the metalitcontains are broughtin contact with the mercury, the resulting amalgamfalling to the bottom of the bath, and the gangue being blown off orotherwise removed when it reaches the terminal of the trough withinwhich the mercury is contained.

The apparatus in detail may be described as follows:

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a trough of suitable lengthmounted on sup- 4 5 porting legs 2, the said trough having a dis chargepassage 3 at one end thereof.

opposite end is superposed a hopper 4. over the upper end of which issuperposed and along which there reciprocates a sieve 5, the upper edgeof the hopper being inclined toward the outer end of the hopper, so asto trough.

At the 7 give a corresponding inclination to the bottom of the sieve andallow for the accumulation of coarse particles dufing the reciprocationofthe sieve.

Mounted transversely through the trough under the hopper 4 is a roller 6having secured to each outer projecting end thereof an eccentric 7exterior to which is mounted a driving wheel 8. At the juncture of thetrough and hopper is mounted a transverse bar 9 to each outer end ofwhich is pivoted the lever 10, the lower end or fork of which embracesthe eccentric, and its upper end or fork embracing the projecting end ofa rod 11 passing transversely through the side walls of the sieve 5,near the upper edge thereof.

At the opposite end of the trough and on a level with the roller 6 is asimilar roller'12, a belt 13 passing around the two rollers and carryingalong its outer surface metal angle shoes 14 the projecting plates ofthe shoes being of such a length as to just pass beneath the surface ofthe mercury bath 15 at the bottom of the trough, and of a length as tojust touch, during the revolution of the belt, the lower edge 16 of theend wall of the hopper.

Mounted at the medial portion of the trough and between the laps of thebelt is a shaft 17 the outer ends of which carry each a driving wheel 18and one end carrying a pulley 19, the latter taking its power throughthe belt '20 from the wheel 8, and conveying it by-the belt 21 passingaround the wheels 18 and pul leys 22 on a shaft 23 mounted vin suitablebearings on either side at one end of the The shaft 23 carries a fan 24confined within a casing 25, the delivery end 26 of which casingterminates as best shown in Fig. 3 at the inner end of the passage 3,and adjacent to the lower edge of the belt passing over the roller 12.

The fan casing or blower is secured to the outer wall of the trough bythe bracket 27 which has its upper and lower ends bolted to 95 the sidesof the trough, the bolts passing through the ends of the bracket andthrough projecting lugs 28 forming partof the casing. The medial portionof the bracket 27 serves to support the shaft 23 at one end, IO)

the inner end of the shaft being supported on a bearing 29 secured tothe outer wall of thetrough. A delivery pipe 30 having a suitable valveextends from the bottom of the trough for permitting the contents of thelatter to run out.

5 Power is applied forexample to the pulley 81 at the outer end of theshaft carrying the Wheel 8. This power is then transmitted through thebelt 20 to wheel18, thence through belt 21 to the fans. The eccentricreciproto cates the lever and this in turn reciprocates the sieve 5. Theore in a dry state and finely pulverized is fed into the sieve,fallingthrough the same into the hopper below. The ore falls against the loweredge 16 of the hopper,

a certain quantity is carried forward by the shoes on the travelingbelt, and each shoe as it passes over the surface of the mercury bathdrives before it the ore giving the same a rolling motion and bringingevery particle of 20 ore and metal contained therein in contact with themercury. As the ore is shoved along it finally reaches the end of thetrough and is picked up by the current of air coming from the deliveryend of the blower, and is forced 2 out through the passage 3 into theatmosphere or any suitable receptacle not shown.

The best results are attained by my present process when the ore is fineand dry, the dryer the better. It has been found in practice that afterore has been subjected to the treatment here set forth, not a particleof metal remains behind to be treated as tailings.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In an amalgamator, asuitable trough, a discharge passage at one end thereof, a travelingbelt in said trough, a roller for said belt, suitable blowers on eitherside of the trough, having their delivery ends entering the inner end ofthe discharge passage and adjacent to the edge of the roller,substantially as set forth.

2. An amalgamator comprising a suitable mercury trough, a traveling beltmounted in the same, a suitable hopper at one end of the trough, areciprocating sieve having an inclined bottom superposed over thehopper, rollers for said belt, a driving shaft and pulley forming partof one roller, an eccentric on said shaft located outside of the trough,a pivoted forked lever engaging the eccentric at one end, and thereciprocating sieve at the other end, a series of shoes mountedtransversely on the outer face of the belt and adapted to come incontact with the mercury bath, suitable fans located at the opposite endof the trough exterior to the same, suitableintermediatedrivingmechanismbetween said fans and the driving shaft of the belt, a delivery passageat the same end of the trough, the delivery ends of the fan casingentering the inner end of the delivery pas; sage of the trough adjacentto the lower edge of the roller carrying the belt, substantially as setforth.

In testimony whereofl'affix my signature in the presence of twoWitnesses.

AUGUST TANNER.

Witnesses:

J. M. JOHNSON, S. T. LANDER.

